'We're riding this big wave right now, and I still have to focus on the next few days'
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ZHANGJIAKOU — Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes is learning quickly, and in real time, what happens to a person’s cellphone when they win an Olympic medal.
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The Canadian ski jumper has been to four Winter Olympics, and he’s never seen anything like this — vibrations, dings, rings.
“All of us are pretty overwhelmed, just staring at our phones going nuts,” Boyd-Clowes said Wednesday.
He stresses that he’s glad to get the support, after a shocking bronze-medal win in this week’s mixed team ski jumping event. It’s Canada’s first-ever ski jumping medal, made all the more intriguing by the fact that the sport is almost dead in this country, and the team trains in Slovenia.
The four team members — Boyd-Clowes, Matthew Soukup, Alexandria Loutitt and Abigail Strate — formally collected their medals in a ceremony Tuesday night, a day after the historic showing.
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Boyd-Clowes says he and his roommate, Soukup, spent time that night savouring those elusive discs — “just him and I, with our medals, enjoying the moment,” he says.
“I don’t really understand the magnitude of it right now,” he added. “But I hope people are noticing our sport, and that a team that came from almost nothing, with no facilities, was able to succeed at the highest level.”
There was talk, in the immediate aftermath, about the impact an Olympic medal could have on the sport of ski jumping in Canada. Boyd-Clowes — 30 years old, with an Olympic history dating back to 2010 — is more cautious.
“I’ve been doing this sport for over 20 years,” he said. “We’ve been talking about the potential for a boost as long as I’ve been doing it. And I’ve never seen it happen. I’m a little bit more jaded than my young teammates are. I have hope, though. I want the sport to be seen, and I want it to exist, and I want people to see how cool it is.”
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Boyd-Clowes upped his own cool factor considerably on Monday, when he stood on the hill with Canada’s first-ever ski jump medal in the balance. He was the team’s last jumper, and put up a calm and collected leap of 101.5 metres, and a team-best score of 128.1.
Everything he’d poured into his body and his brain over the last two decades spilled into that jump of a lifetime.
“We didn’t come here expecting to win a medal,” he says. “It’s the culmination of all of our hard work, and being able to deliver on the day. I’ve never had a moment like that, where all the pressure was on, and I’m one of the last guys on the top of the hill. My teammates put me in a position to do it, and … that’s it. It’s surreal.”
And now the four jumpers have medals in their rooms, brains swirling, phones buzzing, and more to do. Competition continues, and so must they.
“It’s kind of an intense transition,” Boyd-Clowes said. “We’re riding this big wave right now, and I still have to focus on the next few days. I have to train today (Wednesday) and tomorrow, and then we have the qualification for the large-hill event. I’m really excited and looking forward to it. The focus and expectations have shifted slightly, but I’m trying to remain calm.”
Canada's ski jumpers learning fast: Life is different with an Olympic medal - National Post
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